For the greater part of their existence, private schools in the United States served two distinct groups: wealthy families who sought educational programs that would ensure passage to the most prestigious colleges and universities and families who wished to preserve their religious values and traditions through educational programs offered by schools with religious affiliations.

Just a generation ago, private school education was beyond the economic, academic and cultural horizons of most American families. During recent years, however, there has been a surge of interest among a growing number of families from an expanded range of economic, social and ethnic backgrounds who contemplate enrollment in the more than 27,200 private schools in the United States that educate 6.3 million students. (See “Going Private - Where Do Private School Students Go To School?”)

Contrary to common stereotypes associated with private schools, private school students are not all bright, wealthy or the offspring of multi-generational private school families. Nor are all private schools as intensely formal and rigorous as that portrayed in the popular movie Dead Poets Society. Most don’t even come close.

In reality, private schools differ among each other in terms of educational mission, culture and student performance. Likewise, the student population of the individual private schools is varied, with students having a broad range of cultural backgrounds, abilities, talents and interests.

It’s true that some private schools do have incredibly high admissions standards and provide a curriculum that works well for very bright and academically-talented students. On the other hand, some private schools pride themselves on the ability to educate students with learning difficulties and different learning styles. Yet others have developed a curriculum with varying levels of rigor as well as programs to engage students inclined to the arts, vocational development, technology and enterprise.

Following a consistent twenty-year trend, more and more families in the mainstream are choosing private school education with varying motivations and aspirations. Many families believe private school education, particularly at the secondary school level, will enhance the chances of admission to a highly selective college. Others seek opportunities to fully develop the range of intellectual and physical talents that their student possesses, as well as their moral composition. Some families seek a safe and secure environment. For some, the smaller class size generally characteristic of private schools equates to more individual student attention.

Unquelled competition for college admissions, the quest for the best in this age of super-competition and super-parenting, and an overall increase in the number of school-age children have propelled the number of admissions applications submitted to private schools beyond their enrollment capacity. Many schools report that the number of applications that they received in recent years has increased as much as 100 percent since the years that ended the last decade. More than one-third of the nation’s 7,799 Catholic schools report that they had applicant waiting lists for the current year. Some schools in highly populated metropolitan areas such as San Francisco, Boston, and New York report that they have turned away as many as five applicants for every student that they admit.

Fortified curriculum

Private schools are free of federal and state control, giving them latitude to define, develop and deliver a curriculum that supports the mission and the educational philosophy of the individual school.

Administrators and boards of private schools recognize that the curriculum is integral to the value proposition that entices families to make an investment in private school. Continually, teachers and curriculum directors are challenged to develop leading-edge academic and co-curricular programs that resonate excitement among parents.

More often than not, the curriculum descriptions contained in materials prepared for distribution to prospective families portray a traditional or classical education with a neoteric approach to learning. Curricula that place value on creativity, include a broad spectrum of challenging programs and activities, and innovative teaching methodologies are hallmarks that engender scholarly pursuit, even among the youngest of students.

Frequently, the curriculum for the lower grades is structured around a central theme that integrates the various areas of study: reading, writing, math, social studies, science, art, computer study and library assignments. Themes, which usually arise from English or social studies, engage the interest of the student while emphasizing specific academic disciplines and skill building activities. The thematic approach incorporates a range of activities that encourages and enables hands-on learning, creative problem solving and teamwork.

Second grade students at the Dalton School in New York City, where programs in the early grades are based on social studies themes, undertake a thorough study of the city that surrounds them and the features and attributes that makes the urban setting unique. Through their reading, math, language arts, computer and science lessons, the students learn about urban life, the geographic composition of the city, and the array of New York City landmarks that are both renowned and of global significance.

As a concluding task, the students collaborate to construct a model of the city that reflects what they learned about the social, environmental and cultural make-up of their domain. The construction of the model reinforces concepts and content to which the students are introduced, while facilitating mathematical learning, including geometry and measurement, spatial awareness, mapping skills, teamwork and effective problem solving. The elaborately colored and detailed model is put on display within the city for public viewing, instilling pride and a sense of accomplishment for the young urbanists.

Some private schools go the distance to integrate the hands-on component of theme-based learning. Each year, the fourth graders at University School in suburban Cleveland, Ohio engage in a learning theme that focuses on whales and the life of 18th century whalers. Teachers emphasize academic skill development in the context of whales, the adaptation to life in a maritime environment, and the rise of a vigorous whaling economy. After intensive exploration of the theme through science, math, literature, creative writing, social studies and the arts, the students travel to Cape Cod to explore and engage the setting of the New England whaling community.

At the middle school level, where the thematic approach is less pronounced, it is common for teachers in different departments to join together to write and teach an interdisciplinary curriculum. Frequently, English readings are related to the subjects being taught in history or geography. The studies are enhanced by related activities in art, music, drama, creative writing, library assignments, and computer study and usage.

Middle school teachers at The Calhoun School in New York, for example, coordinate art classes with English and social studies units. Students undertake projects in stained glass and illumination to complement medieval English and social studies units and impressionistic landscape projects are coordinated with European history lessons.

At the high school level, many private schools distinguish themselves through a curriculum that includes a wide variety of electives that complement rigorous college-preparatory programs. Many private secondary schools offer an assortment of elective courses comparable to some small colleges, with classes that include Mandarin Chinese, robotic engineering, constitutional law and bioethics.

Beyond the classroom setting, some high schools offer senior students the opportunity to engage in extensive independent research of a topic in which they have personal interest. With the guidance of appointed faculty members, and often times a financial grant to support the execution of the endeavor, students embark on projects such as the design and construction of a battlebot, a study of age-related macular degeneration, or an excursion to conduct a photographic study of Mark Twain’s Mississippi River. Some schools offer students the opportunity to spend a semester on the coast of Maine or in the Rocky Mountains where the natural world becomes the nexus of lessons in history, literature and science.

Recognizing the importance of hands-on research, exploration and interaction among students, private schools throughout the United States continually make tremendous investments in technology centers, science labs, art studios, engineering labs and performing arts centers. The availability of the well-appointed facilities allow faculty to enhance their teaching methodologies and expand their curricular offerings.

New Faces on Campus

During the past decade, private schools have invested tremendous resources to diversify their campuses in order to create communities and conditions where students learn and interact socially with students from different backgrounds. Efforts to develop an environment that reflects the multicultural and multiethnic composition of the general population are mission-critical activities for most schools. Financial aid pools have been bolstered and recruitment programs have been tailored to introduce families from diverse cultural, social and economic backgrounds to private schools.

Nationwide, many private schools have opened their community to economically disadvantaged youth through comprehensive, multifaceted programs that prepare and empower students for successful private school experiences. One such program began in 1989 when the leadership of two Chicago private schools banded together to establish the High Jump program as a means to advance multiculturalism among private schools in the local area and beyond. The program, which was founded by The Latin School of Chicago and The Francis W. Parker School, prepares academically-talented and motivated middle school children with limited family income for future studies at private secondary schools.

High Jump students are enrolled in intensive academic classes for the three summers after the sixth, seventh, and eighth grades. They also attend two years of twice-monthly Saturday classes during the seventh and eight grade years. Their classes include English composition, science, computer applications, art, drama, athletics as well as private high school entrance exam preparation

The students, along with their parents, are offered assistance in identifying, selecting and applying to selective college-preparatory high schools. They are also aided in completing financial aid materials as part of the effort to remove economic barriers.

Committed to providing educational and advancement opportunities to students who might not realize their potential due to economic constraints, the High Jump program has paved the way for more than 450 graduates to attend selective private high schools in the Chicago area as well as boarding schools in other parts of the country.

In Toledo, Ohio, St. John’s Jesuit High School, an all-boy Catholic school enrolls academically-talented and economically and culturally disadvantaged middle school boys in the Toledo 2020 program to prepare them for the school’s rigorous college-preparatory course of study. Before attending classes at St. John’s, the program participants, known as Jesuit Scholars, attend academic and social enrichment programs to prepare them for high school.

Starting in their freshman year and throughout their years of high school study, the Scholars are assigned faculty mentors and they receive financial support and tutoring. They regularly interact with the school’s alumni who serve as academic and community role models. With seventy-five percent of the Toledo 2020 students earning honor-level grades, almost all of the students earn a college degree. Beyond college graduation, a secondary goal is for the scholars to become productive leaders in the Toledo community by the year 2020.

Family Accommodations

Private schools have come to realize that programs to accommodate the growing number of two-career families go hand-in-hand with the desire to diversity their student body. Many private schools, therefore, offer after-school care and vacation programs to attend to the care of their students as the parents focus on matters related to employment and their careers.

Almost all private schools that have early childhood and elementary grade components offer some level of programs to support working parents. Many have begun to offer academic and non-academic before school and after school activities such as chess instruction, fencing, and courses in study skill development. Some offer summer camps, as well as day-long mini-camps during winter and spring breaks.

In some regions of the country, private schools have collectively extended the length of the school year in response to the desire of parents to have their child spend more time in school in order to reduce the need for supplemental child care.

Demonstrated Adaptability

Over the years, private schools have appropriately and effectively adapted themselves to serve a larger body of students with methods of learning and curricula that focus on the skills and the values necessary for success in higher education and the 21st century marketplace.

As the learning environment becomes the essence of the learning process, private schools distinguish themselves as agents of educational growth and character development by the nature of their privateness. These schools, which are governed and operated by independent boards of trustees, religious organizations, and religious orders, are able to transcend the complex system of mandated tests and assessments and focus on the formation and development of productive global citizens.

October 2005